Broken Dawn
by Cariganna
Summary: Going to a new school your Senior year in mid-semester was, quite simply, painful. Going to a new school in a small town where everyone knew everyone and had since they were two was even worse. AU HUMAN, all pairings.Rated T for abusive backgrounds. R&R.
1. Vivid Dreams

A/N: So, in making all our favorite vampires non-vampires, I went with the idea that the majority of the Cullen family came from broken or abusive families. How else could they all end up as Carlisle and Esme's adoptees? This means that WARNING: there will be some abusive scenes. Nothing too explicit, but the topic is touched on. Please Read & Review =D

EPOV

I woke with a start, waves of nausea turning my stomach. Rolling over, I swung my long legs off the side of my bed and peered outside the window. Dawn was breaking. It was still a long while before I needed to rise, but I would get no rest after that. The dream that haunted my nights was vivid, but I suppose that's because it wasn't a dream. It was a memory.

_My mom, eyes wide with terror, smiling to keep my sister and I calm as she pushed us out of the hall and into a closet. She was whispering quickly now, begging us not to make a sound; "He'll never know you're here. Just our little secret," she would grin her lopsided smile at us again. I don't remember if, in the eight years I knew her, her smile ever reached her eyes._

_And then she closed the door. He banged through the front door, grunting her name in his awful, grating voice. She called back to him in a sweet, demurring voice, but it was never enough to calm him._

_Then the noises began: first the sharp slap of skin meeting skin, the quick intake of breath, the sound of cloth ripping, of her calmly telling him 'no', his rough laugh as he disregarded her, a stifled moan of pain as he pushed himself on top of her, her screams tore through the house. It was the sound of pain. _

_My sister and I would wait, shivering in the closet. I would pull Rosalie close as we cried, my arms cocooning her as I pressed her face into my small chest to muffle the sobs. I would bite her hair or my fist to keep from crying out myself._

_Afterwards, Mother would come get us. She would smile the smile that never reached her eyes. I was always amazed that she was never crying. When we were young, too young to understand, my mother would protect us, tell us it was all okay. Later, when we were old enough to know the terrible things that my father did, but still too young to do anything about it, Rose asked why she never cried. I'll never forget what my mother said: "I've dried up, Rosey. I have no more to give."_

_The next day, she was dead. It wasn't the last thing my mom said to me, but they were the last words I remembered._

I sat on my bed, curling my arms around my legs as I watched the sun rise.

"Edward?" I heard my sister's voice crack as she whispered my name.

"Come here, Rose," I lifted my arm and she slid across the floor soundlessly. She laid across my bed, propping her shoulders across my knees. Her feet balanced on my pillow, where she knew I didn't like them to be. She smiled up at me coyly, daring me to say something. It was too early and I was too tired. I smiled back at her. I don't think it reached my eyes.

RPOV

I watched him start awake, watched him unfurl and sit, back against the wall, staring out the window. I sighed a silent sigh. My poor Edward, always so stoic. He was my protector, I suppose, in so many ways. He always had been. Technically, I was older by two minutes, but Edward had been born ancient.

I wasn't friendly with many people, but Edward was my twin, and we were close, even by those standards. I knew at high school I had a reputation for being a skank and a bit abrasive, as Alice liked to put it, but with Edward, none of that mattered. He would always love me, and I took comfort in my one constant. I knew what he had been dreaming; I had dreamt it too. He looked so sad as he sat curled in on himself. I wanted to make him happy, to ease his pain as he so effortlessly eased mine. But I knew I couldn't so I settled for distraction.

"Edward?"

He lifted his arm, and beckoned me to him. "Come here, Rose."

I settled onto his bed, and deliberately propped my feet onto his pillow. I knew he hated it, thought it unsanitary. If I could just coax him into a conversation, even if he was just chiding me, maybe he wouldn't be so morose. No such luck. He smiled a fake smile and went back to watching the sun.

I sighed and shook out my golden tresses. The sun had no interest for me, rising or not. I combed my fingers through my hair, gently unsnarling the knots and waited for him to talk. I knew Edward and this is what he needed.

It didn't take long.

"Why are you up?" We both whispered in the pre-dawn. It was a big house, but that didn't change the fact that there was seven of us, and I was pretty sure noone else would be up this early.

"You were loud," I hoped my half smile would show I didn't mind being awoken.

"Oh. Sorry."

"Don't be," I shrugged. "I had the dream too."

"You okay?" he peered at my face intently. Typical Edward. Here it was the third night he had woken fitfully, and he was worried about me.

"Yeah. You woke me before anything happened."

He nodded, silent.

"Your feet are on my pillow, you know," he said after a minute.

"Are they?" I rubbed my toes over the slip-cover.

His lip curled and his eyes narrowed. "How's it going with Emmett, by the way?"

I flipped my hair in his face.

Crossing to my side of the room, I sat in front of the vanity Esme had set up for me and glared at him through the reflection until he relented. The sound of Alice crashing dishes around as she tried to silently make breakfast rose through the two stories of the house.

"Sorry, Rosey," he tried to look contrite, but he was still teasing me.

"Shut up, jerk."

He followed after me. Placing his hand on my shoulder, he said, "He'll come around, you know."

Before I could respond, he was out the door, headed to help Alice in her no doubt doomed attempt to scramble eggs.

APOV

I woke up early, eager to start the day. I had always been told I was a morning person, but then Jasper was fond of saying I was also a noon, afternoon, evening, and night person. But today was special; I'd had a dream. One that told me I needed to be happy and that I needed to talk to Edward.

I knew that many people thought I was nutty and I had a reputation around school as being a few fries short of a Happy Meal, but, hey, who cared? I was _happy_. I had parents, kind of, that loved me. I had friends, all four of them, and I had Jasper. And by the end of today, I had a feeling I would be even better. Yes, today was a good day.

The morning air was cold. I threw a robe on over my yoga pant and tank top combo for propriety's sake. I knew Carlisle and Esme were almost ridiculously accepting of the five of us, but I still did my best to earn their carefully turned eye.

I bustled downstairs happily, making my way to the kitchen. Armed with a glass bowl and a whisk, I set myself to beating the dozen and a half eggs that would be needed to feed my family. I tried to be quiet about it. I figured the boys would be happier waking up to the scent of cooking breakfast than my loud clattering. Rose could sleep through anything.

"Good morning," was Edward's cursory greeting. I eyed him speculatively as he began chopping the mushrooms and tomatoes I had already set out. We worked in silence (sans my unsuccessful attempt at not making a racket). I winced at a particularly loud crash courtesy of the stupid whisk. I was not a clumsy person per se, but I could be a bit loud when I tried to be circumspect.

"You were in my dream last night," I said nonchalantly, knowing he would pay attention. "You met a friend. She made you unhappy for some reason, sad almost. Do try to be nice. She'll be my friend too."

He didn't say anything at my change in tense.

We heard a noise and turned to see Rosalie stalking down the stairs.

"_You_," I said, indicating Rose, "won't like her."

Emmett snorted from the stair case. "It looses some of its mojo when you predict the obvious. She doesn't like _any_one."

"Be nice," Jasper's whispy voice could be heard from the second floor overhang.

"Oh, Jasper," I called up to him. "Be nice to her too. I want to make a good impression." He nodded, leaning over the railing so I could see him, and smiled. It was a smile meant for me and I couldn't help but grin back.

Yes, I thought, stirring the milk and cheese into the eggs, a _very_ good day.


	2. Beginnings

**BPOV**

It was going to be a bad day.

Going to a new school your Senior year in mid-semester was, quite simply, painful. Going to a new school in a small town where everyone knew everyone and had since they were two was even worse. As I eased my beat-up red truck into the parking lot, I could feel their predatory stares. I double-clutched, as Jacob had taught me, and put my truck in park. The engine sputtered as I turned the key in the ignition. I palmed it and briefly rested my head on the wheel. I tried to take a deep steadying breath, but it sounded more like a hiccup.

I had to put my shoulder into the door to open it, and I heard a chuckle from behind me for my efforts. Splendid.

I made my way up to the Front Office, which was in a small building to the right, exactly where Charlie had said it would be. The lady sitting at the desk started when I opened the door, the bell ringing loudly in the small room.

She jumped up excitedly, grabbed my hand and pumped it with vigor, "Oh! You must be Miss Isabella Swann. It's so good to meet you. I have your schedule just here and I printed out a map for you with the quickest route to all your classes. Although, I'm sure if you get lost you can find your way back here or ask someone to help you because I'm sure they'd all be willing to help. It's just so good to have you here."

I stood there, stunned, reduced to nodding every few seconds in what I thought was an appropriate response to this verbal onslaught. Was a new student really such cause for excitement? Was she even breathing? No. She was still talking. "Now, you'll need to get each teacher to sign this paper and if you'd just be a dear and bring it back at the end of the day, that'd be absolutely amazing. Thank you so much."

Still no breath, I thought as she pumped my hand again and hustled me out of the building, pointing vaguely at another building somewhat to the left.

I pulled my jacket close as I stepped back into the rain.

I'd gone no more than five steps when I heard my name being called.

"Isabella! Hey, so nice to meet you. My name's Eric."

How did everyone _know _me?

"Just Bella," I smiled in his direction by way of reply.

"What class do you have first?" – he tore the schedule from my hand and glanced over it – "oh hey, you have English first bell with me and History right before lunch. Awesome!"

"That's great." His enthusiasm was bizarre.

We stepped into the class (Eric gestured grandly for me to proceed him) and I did a bit of a double-take. I gave the teacher, Mr. McCain, my paper and dumbly received back the syllabus as I counted the chairs. Yep, my first guess was right. Twelve seats, twelve students. Crap, but that was small.

Eric motioned waved me over and I followed his summons. He ran through the introductions and I tried to keep up. Angela was the brunette with glasses. Jessica had blonde hair and a low-cut blouse. Mike was tanner than them all, still pale, and wearing a big coat. Got it.

"Sorry we don't have any seats so you can sit with us," Jessica simpered at me.

"That's really fine though." I smiled back at her

There were two empty seats in the second row. I took the one closest to the door and stared at my syllabus, noticing absently that I'd read all but two of the books listed. Looking at the dates, I realized we were covering Romeo & Juliet.

The bell rang and I focused on the teacher, pacing the front of the room. His eyes scanned the room, taking attendance probably, I thought.

"Sorry I'm late," a bored voice said from the hall-way.

He sidled in, glanced at me woefully, and took the seat next to mine. I followed his eyes as he nodded good-bye to a pixie-looking girl cheerfully examining me as she walked backwards to her class.

The rest of the class flew by in a blur of doodles and a half-listened-to lecture. The bell rang, and before I knew it, I was staring into the happy eyes of Eric as he rambled on about something, I'm not quite sure what.

I got up, ready to leave, when suddenly I felt a tug on my ankle and I watched in resignation as the floor rushed up to meet me. Suddenly, a hand darted out and pushed me up. I traced the hand back to its source and saw the boy that had been late watching me with a slight smirk on his face.

God, he was gorgeous. His pale hair was styled a little longer than I was used to, his bangs sweeping back to reveal his startlingly blue eyes.

"Umm.. hi. Sorry." I was terrible at talking, I realized belatedly.

"It's fine. Isabella, right?"

I nodded, finally finding my tongue, "Just Bella, actually." I shook my head ruefully, "It seems like everyone already knows who I am."

"It's not so bad." His voice was like velvet. "My name's Jasper."

I shook his hand. As I went to withdraw my hand from his grasp, it was immediately replaced by another, smaller hand. It was the pixie- girl I had seen this morning.

"Hi, Bella! I'm Alice! We're used to moving around a lot too." Everything about her was excited. She smiled at me expectantly and I tried to smile back. There was no way I could match her wattage though it didn't seem to perturb her. "We'll have a class together."

Jasper grinned suddenly, and put his arm around Alice. It took me a second to comprehend that he was smiling at her antics. "Sure," I said, not quite certain what was expected of me.

Eric grabbed my arm and steered me out of the class.

"That was weird," he said as we passed through the hall.

"Yeah, definitely weird," Jessica agreed.

Just what was weird, I never did quite figure out. The bell rang, shattering my thoughts, just as Eric pushed me towards what I assumed was my next class. As I handed my schedule to the teacher, I glanced towards the other students and was slightly surprised to see Alice, quivering in her seat as she motioned me towards the empty desk beside her. I nodded slightly, in attempt to get her to stop wiggling. Although why she was trying so valiantly to get my attention, I didn't know, especially since the empty seat beside her was the only vacant seat in the room.

After receiving a textbook, I slid in beside her (she beamed) and focused on the lecture. Forty-five mind-boggling minutes later, the bell rang again. I shook my head, to clear it and began gathering my things. I wasn't exactly _behind_ in this class. In fact, I'd already covered the current material in Pheonix, but math simply was not my forte.

Alice giggled at me and her cheer was infectious. I crossed my eyes and wiggled my head back and forth, causing her to laugh. I smiled hesitantly at her. Jasper's arm wove around her. I hadn't even seen him until he was there. He whispered something in her ear and her lips curved again.

"You'll have lunch with us tomorrow," she promised me.

The next period I had Eric and Mike with me. Each perched on either side of my desk and traded insults. It was a bit like watching a tennis match I thought doggedly as my head turned from one to the other.

I was relieved when the bell rang and class began but even more so when it rang again, signaling lunch. Eric and Mike flanked me as we walked to the lunch room, effectively steering me into an empty seat. I watched them warily as they wrestled over who would have the "pleasure" of pulling out my chair. I rolled my eyes, sat next to Jessica, and tried to evince interest in her and Angela chat about the swim team. A gust of cold air hit me from behind, swirling my brunette hair. I turned and watched the parade.

"Who are they?" I asked.

"They're the Cullens. They just moved here from, like, Alaska or something a few years ago. They mostly stick to themselves cause they're, like, _with_ each other," she saturated the word with meaning as she lifted her over-tweased eyebrows. "The blonde one is Rosalie. And that big burly one behind her is Emmett. They have the whole love-hate thing going for them. And _that_ one," she motioned towards the door, where a Greek God held the door open for a couple I identified as Alice and Jasper, "is Edward. He's not currently attached. Apparently no one here holds any interest for him" – she snorted and I thought I saw him press his lips together to suppress his smile – "like, I care, right? And you know Jasper and Alice."

I took in the scene as Angela and Jessica discussed the oddity that was Alice and Jasper. From what I gleaned it was "like, so odd" that they had talked to me.

_Hmm, interesting_. I twisted in my seat, and watched them as they sat down, forgoing the lunch line. Alice was leaning over Jasper's lap to poke Edward good-naturedly in the ribs. _Lord, he's good-looking. Like Michelangelo's David meets Abercrombie_. Alice was pointing at me excitedly, I realized belatedly. I smiled hesitantly and she grinned back. Edward just stared.

A/N: Please review. I want to know if I'm on the right track.


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